A common name in the Penllyn community. A prominent figure who is not afraid to show off his money.
Charles Edward Ingersoll (1860-1932) was born on June 17, son of Philadelphia lawyer and author Edward Ingersoll.
After attending the St. Paul's school and the University of Pennsylvania, he became active in politics. He was the aid to William Harrity, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and was part of a successful 1892 campaign of 24th President Grover Cleveland. During the 1896 Democratic Convention and heard the Cross of Gold speech delivered by Democrat Presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan.
Fun Fact #1: Charles had little interest reading the law as a law, even though he was a steady reader.
During his career in law, he worked with Francis Gowen, who would become the president of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad. In the 1890s, he and Gowen became partners and reopened the railroad and sold the road to Rock Island in 1901, leading to the establishment of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.
The railroad business with Gowen made Charles very rich. In 1894, he built his country home in Penllyn. The fortune he earned were put into the Midway Valley Railroad that was built in 1902, and requested no returns in money. Instead of relaxing in his Forest Hill home, he traveled to Oklahoma during the summers and winters.
In 1902, he ran as a Democratic nominee for US Congress in Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district against Irving P. Wagner. He lost to Wagner by 2,609 votes.
Social Life at Forest Hill
"The late Charles E. Ingersoll managed to run his house with three men for outside work, a chauffeur, a cook, two maids, a butler, and a pageboy called, in the English manner, the buttons... In the old days, the Ingersoll staff at Penllyn was such that the meandering gravel drives of the estate could be freshly raked after each vehicle passed."
- Birmingham, The Right People: The Social Establishment in America
In the 1920s, Charles was experiencing problems in the stock market, and in order to maintain the money, he laid off his buttons. He sent his family to White Sulphur Springs for vacation while he hired another buttons.
Even when the family had numerous servants working around the home, his own family members did their part to maintain their home. On a hot afternoon day, Charles' son John and his wife Anne replaced iron fencing that was 100 feet long.
Bibliography
Birmingham, Stephen. The Right People: The Social Establishment in America. (New York: Open Road Media, 2015): 15.
"Google Maps Area Calculator Tool." DaftLogic. Accessed July 4, 2022. https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm.
Halford, A.J. Official Congressional Directory, For the Use of the United States Congress. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903): 102.
"Ingersoll Nominated." Ambler Gazette. August 14, 1902. Page 1. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/3684/rec/1.
Ingersoll, R. Sturgis. "Sketch of the Ingersoll Family of Philadelphia." (1966): 16-19. https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/G003536.pdf.
Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 9, n. 38 (1894): 457.